THE ANCIENT PEOPLES. 31 
pit is usually found near the center and in most cases 
there is an airshaft of some size opening at the level of 
the floor and a masonry wall or stone slab in front of the 
opening to prevent a direct draft. It is not unusual to 
find masonry walls extending into the circular kivas 
for some feet, but the purpose of such construction does 
not appear. They were evidently entered by hatchways 
through the roofs which were constructed similar to 
those of the ordinary rooms. 
Types oF RUINS. 
Cliff Palace. The largest and perhaps best known 
cliff-dwelling is situated in the Mesa Verde region a few 
miles southwest of Manecos, Colorado. It has been 
named Cliff Palace and has been described by many 
writers since it was first mentioned in public print about 
1890. The cave which shelters it is 425 feet long, 80 
feet wide in the middle, and reaches an extreme height 
of 80 feet. It occupies the eastern side of Cliff Palace 
Canyon, which is here about 200 feet deep. The cave 
opening, therefore, faces the west, with its axis roughly 
north and south. It resulted from the wearing away 
by the elements of a stratum of soft sandstone which 
was protected above by a harder layer that has remained 
to form the roof. Parts of the rock have broken from 
this roof and have fallen to the floor below where they 
have either remained or rolled out to form a slop- 
ing talus along its base. The floor of the cave as a 
result is very uneven, so that the structure stands upon 
four terraces of varying height with some of the rooms 
resting upon large blocks of rock. 
It appears that it was not planned and built as a 
whole but that the first buildings were added to from 
time to time, both on the sides and above. The walls 
